Check Out This Amazing F-14 Tomcat Carrier Landing Tutorial Video

This is pure Tomcat porn!

Using the very same words of the user who uploaded it to Youtube the one below is a “nostalgic video tutorial outlining US Naval Case 1 (VFR) Aircraft Carrier pattern and landing of the now retired F-14 Tomcat.” What makes it really cool is not only the fact that it features the mighty F-14 Tomcat, but also that the narration is word for word from official US Navy F-14 NATOPS flight manual.

The video (uploaded in 2012, 6 years after the type was retired from U.S. Navy service) includes a compilation of Pilot Landing Aid Television System (PLAT) video used by Landing Signal Officers (LSO) to monitor approaching aircraft position on the glideslope and centreline.

At min. 2:12 you can see an F-14 recoverying to the flight deck with the basket and part of the cable still plugged to the aircraft’s IFR (In Flight Refueling) probe in 2002, whereas at min. 2:35 a Tomcat catches the wire while still in the air with a subsequent touchdown on the nose wheel (dated 1999). These are just two examples of some interesting (or scary) approaches/landings you can see in the video!

Enjoy.

 

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.